Believing in the Dream

A few years ago, while I was ill, a friend gave me this book on tape. I listened to it over and over while lying in bed, mostly hopeless. As I listened, it brought a clarity and a reason to the pain and suffering I was going through. It helped me keep my dream alive through it all.

It changed my whole view of my dreams and the role of getting clear about purpose of the dream and what it takes to make them happen.

For many years I dreamed and thought they impossible. They were pipe dreams, ya know, that little girl dreaming beyond reality. We all have dreams, and we all either decide to pursue them or let them die. 

The book presents a few simple concepts:

• Our dreams are God's dreams. He has placed them within us. He would not give us a dream that is impossible. It is up to us to figure it out with His help.

• We have all the gifts and skills to make our dreams happen. God has built these gift in as he created the dream within our hearts. God wants us to expand our skills, so other people will expand theirs. God wants us to believe in our dreams deeply, so others may come along side to help make them happen. It is up to us to build alliances that have common dreams and  create solutions together.

• Getting quiet with God is absolutely necessary! When we come into "sanctuary" with God, we are able to decipher "His Plan!" When we begin to understand how to do it and with whom.

• Overcoming our Personal fears is a ongoing process! Our willingness to come to our knees and be truthful with ourselves will happen the whole way through the realization of a dream. Count on it. 

• Social Issues will present them selves! Generally speaking there are social issues that stand in front of our dream. Woman can't do that! Those people are not worth it! Fears and predjudice will reveal it's horrible head. It is our faith and dreams that will overcome them. 

• The closer we are to realizing our dreams the harder the challenges will be. As the dream comes into reality the stakes get higher and higher. The obstacles seem bigger, yet in reality they are not. It is the final push that always seems the hardest, yer it is also when the most fear is present, right at the edge of success. Right of the edge of joy!

So today, I am committed to my dream! I pray you commit to yours!

Sustaining Employee Engagement With Strategic Storytelling

Bill Baker


To fully leverage the potential of the sustainable brand, organizational leaders must find ways to fully engage and infuse their workforce with enthusiasm around the noble and essential higher purpose that not only drives the brand, but also defines it. The most effective way to do this is through strategic storytelling.
Storytelling can focus, align and inspire the human energy needed to realize the sustainability positioning of your brand and the larger vision for the organization connected to that positioning. When used strategically, stories can infuse your plan with meaning, making the ideas and principles driving your efforts real for your employees.
Though typically made through brand communications, the promises of sustainability are brought to life through the thousands of actions and decisions made daily by managers and employees. To properly guide those actions and decisions, organizations must first make certain their brand is truly sustainable. Sustainability—and the “future generation” higher purpose associated with it—must actually be part of the brand’s core story, not just an operational tangent to it.
Assuming sustainability is an integral thread of your organization’s brand story, you can set about using strategic storytelling to engage employees in that story and, importantly, sustain their engagement around it long into the future. What follows are three guidelines on how to do just that.
1. Present the sustainable brand positioning to employees in the memorable language of stories. As noble as the words  “optimize”, “ integrity” and “innovation” sound on a plaque or in an annual report, when used to communicate your brand positioning to employees, they’re neither distinguishing, nor provocative or memorable. And if employees don’t recall the language of your strategic planning efforts, chances are they are not talking about it or acting on its objectives, either. GE uses stories extensively to bring its Ecomagination story to life, making real for employees, customers and the broader marketplace the higher purpose driving their efforts and the positive impacts resulting from them.
2. Give your employees the means to share stories about your sustainable brand. Employee stories keep your brand positioning current and tangible by reinforcing how it’s coming to life every day—in the field, at corporate headquarters and everywhere in between. What’s more, as more employees share their stories, they take on greater philosophical ownership of the sustainable brand positioning those stories exemplify. For example, the GE Reports website contains a rich collection of stories of “imagination at work” identified and put forward by GE employees around the globe. This creates a greater sense of connection between employees and the larger sustainability story GE is telling the world.
3. Fan the flames of employee engagement and enthusiasm by becoming your organization’s “Storyteller-in-Chief.” When corporate leaders ask for new ways of thinking, talking and acting, employees will always look up the ladder to see if you are practicing what you preach. One of the best ways executives and managers of a company can “walk the sustainability talk” is by regularly sharing stories that demonstrate and exemplify the company’s sustainability efforts coming to life.
So, as you embark on the next wave of strategic planning around sustainability, consider using storytelling to more effectively connect what you’re trying to achieve with the employees you need to achieve it. More than anything, it can help bring about meaningful change for your brand, your business and the larger world in which you do business. And that’s something worth sustaining.

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Bill Baker is founder and principal of BB&Co Strategic Storytelling. BB&Co has helped business leaders of organizations such as Relais & Châteaux, Johnson & Johnson and GE, as well as the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, the University of British Columbia and others advance their brands, businesses and people through strategic storytelling. For more information about BB&Co, visit http://billbakerandco.com, or email storyteller@billbakerandco.com.

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Productive & Respectful Networking: Oh Right it's all about Conversations!

As far as playing jazz, no other art form, other than conversation, can give the satisfaction of spontaneous interaction.  - Stan Getz

I love this quote! It reveals such a delightful morsel to me. It helps me see the beauty of not having an agenda and allowing a conversation to go where it goes.

As I consider how important my time is these days,
I realize every relationship I decide to choose to create has infinite potential. What I open up to share and what I foster to be shared are the moments of  j a z z. Those sweet lyrical exchanges that connect and flow. 

So often I find myself selling, to begin with in a relationship, instead of exploring, revealing, creating and experiencing. I believe the quote asks us to look at the idea of being willing to allow the spontaneity of an exchange to create a beautiful connection, instead of some imagined agenda to be followed.

In the charming illustration, we see the intersections of ideas and thoughts expressed so beautifully, that ideas intermingle and create surprises that unfold. As I personally consider the kinds of networking experiences that bring me inspiration, they are the ones that allow meaningful dialogue. 

 Recently a colleague challenging me to the idea, that I already knew right this moment, every person, I needed to grow my work and gain greater success. She asked me to look at respecting and honoring my past investments of time and reputation. Had I followed up? Had I let an opportunity pass? Why was I looking for new, when I had not deepened the ones I currently have.

It got me really thinking. As I explored this idea, it helped me see that when I am fostering current relationships with the flow of jazz, the exact right new player will come in effortlessly, with surprise and spontaneity, those magical connections...that just reveal themselves. 

So today I shall be a jazz player and allow myself to flow and to explore...with confidence and ease. 

Join us July 13th to converse about networking and creating the right strategies for YOU!

 

What is Social Resonsibility?

How do you see yourself in the whole? What is your part? your companies part?

There are many definitions out there for social responsibility. We chose the definition from the Harvard Kennedy School, THE INITIATIVE DEFINING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 

"We define corporate social responsibility strategically. Corporate social responsibility encompasses not only what companies do with their profits, but also how they make them. It goes beyond philanthropy and compliance and addresses how companies manage their economic, social, and environmental impacts, as well as their relationships in all key spheres of influence: the workplace, the marketplace, the supply chain, the community, and the public policy realm" 

This shows the vastness and importance of looking at the whole picture, be it personally or as an organization.

What are your views on this important topic? We are all part of the whole and how we take responsibility for our part MATTERS!

Pilgrimage: Willingness to be Conscious.

According to Wiki, the definition of pilgrimage is a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Ahh yes, spiritual significance, my personal daily quest, but what has this to do with a vacation?

The past months, I have been reading a wonderful book called the Art of Pilgrimage by Phil Cousineau. It inspired me to set off on the road to explore myself and the world around me in a new way. I feel myself more than ever, being willing to be changed, affected and grown. I have chosen to be conscious of the world around me and seek clarity about how I am affected and how I affect others. 

So much in my life these days is calling me higher, deeper, further. I have been working to create and solidify the work of Character Counts! and have found places within myself being pushed, pressed and questioned. Quite an intense and inspiring experience.

So last week, I set out on a pilgrimage. I knew I was ready to see and hear differently. Life has been shifting in vast was lately and I have found myself called to become quiet and observe the world in a quieter way. Seeking God's light

Often when I seek to see and experience myself again, I go back to the things I love, family, friends, art, design, food...it is from these familiar facets of myself I am able to not only find the things I love about my world, I also get to see so many perspectives and approaches, I had looked past before.

The past 10 days, has been a blessing beyond measure. I had a chance to "see" beyond myself and open myself to change that feels deep and lasting. I can feel that I have been able to actually let go of some old and unloving habitual thoughts.

It was cathartic to be able to talk with so many people who love and KNOW me about the work I am doing and why I believe I have been called to do it. They were able to help me understand at a deep level God's bigger plan. Each person was able to tell me how happy they are to see me so happy today. Each of was able to help understand how LOVE and FAITH has brought me through some pretty dark times he past years.

I was also blessed to be open to several new acquaintances who were placed on my path to hold the space of inquiry. My sense of pilgrimage was inspired by these very special interactions. People who had many things to tell me in the moment. I felt so grateful to meet faithful people willing to share their hearts and open to saying things they felt I needed to hear.

As I write this, I am actually awed by God's divine plan.  I guess that was the primary blessing of the trip. That yes, there is a plan and if I am wiling to open myself to it, it will bring joy and love.

I love my life and all the people who are in it! I deeply sense that I am where I am supposed to be and that my basic sense of path is just right too! I accept that it is evolving and that as I continue to be willing to be aware of the world around me, my life will blossom. I know that I am here to be affected by others and that I too affect the world around me.

I commit to being "CONSCIOUS"!

May Speaker Profile: Dave Josephson, Growth Coach

Dave will join us Monday May 14!  

Innovation Fueled by Respect

For Dave Josephson, marketing and sales coaching has been a part of life since the very beginning.

When he was in grade school, Dave told his Uncle Jim, a food engineer for Oscar Mayer®, what he thought kids would like for lunch: a sampling of meats, cheeses, and breads, and of course, a sweet treat for dessert. Dave even suggested the name of “Lunch Sampler.” A few short years later, Lunchables® hit the market, and today it is one of Oscar Mayers’ top selling packaged food items for children ages 6 to 10. So began Dave’s lifelong love affair with sales and marketing.

While in college, Dave assisted his father-in-law in the opening of several video stores, where in addition to stocking shelves, he also developed “Take-One,” a monthly video newsletter for video club members. Seeing that his family needed marketing dollars, he simply asked their video sales representative for some. By asking a simple question, Dave uncovered hundreds of dollars worth of co-op funds for his family’s new video store chain.

After college, Dave worked for a national home-business magazine publisher, where he coached home-business owners how to wisely spend their advertising dollars. His creativity and enthusiasm soon had him in charge of the magazine’s major accounts. Since his clients loved his marketing coaching, Dave hosted a weekly teleseminar called “Market Smarts,” where he coached hundreds of business owners around the world at a time.

Dave then pursued a marketing career where he would be able to work with one of the leading franchise systems in the country, Auntie Anne’s Hand-Rolled Soft Pretzels™. Here Dave realized that impulse buying and regional taste preferences had an impact on each location. Therefore, he coached his franchisees to uncover what their customers wanted and then how to market to them. Not only did this empower his franchisees, but it also drove up their sales by as much as 50% within as little as 6 months. Dave showed them how to leverage their marketing dollars by working directly with mall property managers. As a result of developing innovative partnerships, he helped save his franchisees thousands of dollars on advertising, as well as gave them the ability sell more with little to no effort.

Always admiring small business owners for their courage, Dave later partnered with his wife Dawn in her business, Cameo Publications, a boutique publishing house where they worked with some of the top business trainers and professional speakers around the world. In addition to publishing self-help and business books, Dave coached business consultants of the Fortune 500 companies. His reputation made him well known throughout various professional consulting circles as the Marketing Innovator.

Despite the success of Cameo Publications, Dave felt it was time to tackle a new adventure, so he took a position in Jacksonville, Florida at The Beaver Street Enterprise Center as their Program Coordinator. In this role, Dave used his creativity to motivate small business owners by helping them break their self-limiting barriers and empower them by learning how to leverage their business through effective branding and sales leadership. As part of this effort, Dave introduced SELL-Ebration, where he brought together Jacksonville’s top sales and marketing trainers to give advice to a packed event hall.

After witnessing how many business owners fall victim to working IN their businesses rather than ON their businesses, Dave became a certified coach in the Strategic Mindset® Process with The Growth Coach®.  Dave empowers business owners to Drive Success AND Balance Life™. Today, Dave’s mission is to help small business owners realize that they are truly worthy of being successful and that they are their best asset in their business.

Credentials

In total, Dave has over 20 years of marketing and sales coaching experience, and has personally coached more than 1,500 small business owners ranging from the start-ups to the mega-successful in many different industries. Dave holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Communications with a Minor in English from Rollins College and an Associate of Arts Degrees in Business Administration and in Paralegal Science.

To learn more about what Dave spends his time doing take a moment to visit his Growth Coach website. 

Innovation Fueled by Respect

You may ask yourself how do these two seemingly unrelated thoughts fit together. What I have learned by running teams focused on creating innovative ideas, approaches and products is that we must create environments that foster respect for innovation to flourish.

The environment that nurtures respect will allow diverse ideas to be expressed. It is this space that is the lifeblood of new thinking. Innovation requires the looking at a situation from as many perspectives as possible. Respect for all perspectives must be present in order for the team to truly see all the possibilities.

What are you thinking here? I am curious about your perspective??